When choosing which foreign language to learn, we consider many factors. Some of them are:
- Size of Learner Community – If a language is more commonly studied, then it will naturally have a larger learner community built around it.
- Access to Quality Resources – If a language is in higher demand among language learners, there will likely be a larger amount of language learning resources available for it than there are for other languages.
- Access to Native Speakers – If there is a large number of people who wish to learn a specific language, then there will also be a large number of native speakers available to help teach that language to you.
Here we bring you the list of 4 most popular languages in the world.
1. English
Undoubtedly, English topped the list. Thanks to the British Empire, which covered 24% of the Earth’s land area in 1920, English became the most widely spoken language. English is the first choice language in three times as many countries as the second most popular language.
2. French
French is second of the most popular languages from two perspectives.
- It is the second most popular first-choice language (35 countries compared with English’s 116)
- It is the most popular second-choice language (77 countries compared with Spanish’s 57)
It is often said that French is the best language to learn those who already speak English.
3. Spanish
Slightly behind French is Spanish. Almost entire South and Central America speaks Spanish. According to a 2011 ACTFL report, the most commonly studied foreign languages in US K-12 Public Schools in the 2007-2008 academic year was Spanish with a whopping 6,418,331 enrollments. The reasons could be easy grammar, spoken in Latin America, similarity with Italian and Portugese, etc.
4. German
German comes 4th after dominant English and closely contesting French and Spanish. It is the most popular choice of 9 nations and second most popular in 29 countries. Among the top 4, this is the only language which is not an official language of United Nations. Learning German can open a plethora of opportunities for Mechanical Engineers.
